Car-coupling



(No Model.)- K

G. THAYER.

AGAR GOUPLING. No. 347,660. Patented Aug. 1'7, 1886.

- 4.45m ggg/ as built.

`do not claim, broadly, as I am aware such have heads.

UNITED STATES PATENT Ormea.

CHARLES THAYER, OF ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATIGN forming part o1' Letters Patent No. 347,660, dated August17, 1886.

Application filed May 3, i856. Serial No. 200,94'. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, GHARLEs THAYER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Ann Arbor, in the'county of Vashtenaw and State of Michigan,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in CarCouplings; and Ido declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters and iigures of referencemarked thereon,which form apart of thisspeeifcation.

My invention in car-couplers relates to that class using the common linkand pin.

In my invention the means employed for holding or setting the pin issuch that as the draw-heads meet the link will be caused to enter one ofthe heads, and coming against the pinsupporting wing of the crank-rodssaid wing is swung from under the pin, causing the pin to drop as thelink passes under it, thus making a coupling, and avoiding the necessityof the brakeman going between the cars while making a coupling, as iscommon.

I have shown in the drawings a series of pockets or link-compartments ineach drawhead. This is to enable the ready coupling of cars whose heightmay vary on account of one car being heavily loaded and the other empty,or on account of the varying heights of cars The series oflink-compartments I heretofore been in common use.

My invention consists in the general arrangement of parts, ashereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out particularly in the claims.

In the drawings forming a part of this specication, Figure 1 is asideelevation, with a part in section, showing parts coupled. Fig. 2 is anopposite side view of same, alsorpartly in section, showing the parts asset ready to couple. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail having parts brokenaway. Fig. 4 is a top plan of the coupling-link. Fig. 5 is a perspectiveof the pin supporting and releasing device.

In the drawings, D D represent the draw- Each head is provided withaseries of link pockets or compartments, T, and P are horizontalpartitions ordividing-walls, each terminating with a tapering nose, 71,at the mouth m of the drawhead. Mounted on each draw-head at the end isa pin-supporting cap or bracket, N, having a hole through it,whieh alsopasses vertically through the partitions P', as shown at t. Said holesare made suiiiciently large to receive freely the coupling-pin l?, asshown at the left of Figs. land 2. Passing through each draw-headhorizontally, and just above each partition and directly over thepin-holes t', is a horizontal rod, B. Each rod is provided with acentral wing, a, having in coupling-pin to pass through when said wing ais tilted or turned down to the horizontal position shown in Figs. 1 and3. The opening e of each wing a is made to register with thecoupling-pin hole t', passing through the horizontal wall Il below.

I provide each rod B with a crank, c", at each end. rIhe rodshouldbesufcientlylong to enable the operators reaching the cranks toturn the rod without going between the cars.

I form in one face orside of each draw-head a series of key-hole shapedopenings, K,which are made suliiciently large to allow the insertion ofthe rods B, and to allow the wings a to also pass through said openinginto the draw-heads, as shown at the right of Fig. 2. As soon as acrank-rod B has been inserted, I rxnly attach to each rod, and at anangle of about twenty degrees to the cranks c c, a stop pin or loop, Z,which prevents the rods from working endwise, and also acts as astop tolimit the turning of the rods when raising the wings a from a horizontalto the vertical position shown at the left of Fig. 2, for the purpose ofsupporting the pin P preparatory to makinga coupling. When so turning arod B, the lug or loop Zwill strike one of the stops d, attached to theface of the draw-head, as shown by dotted lines of Fig. 1. The placingof the loop Z on an angle of about twentyr degrees to the cranks c ofthe shafts B causes the cranks to stand forward of the vertical centerwhen the wings a are in a vertical position supporting the pin, andthereby the wings are prevented from dropping down by the motion orvibration of the car. The mouths of the draw-heads are of the usual Ioobell shape, and that portion of each partition in advance of thetransverse crank-shafts B at f is made higher than the portion at therear of each crank-shaft, as clearly shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. Theobject of the raised portion f is to enable the link L,when passingoverit, to strike the upturned wing a of the shaft B, so as to causesaid wing to rock back from under the pin, so as to allow the supportedrc pinto drop through the link, thus coupling the parts, as shown inFigs. l and 2, and also to allow the link as it is forced into thedrawhead to pass freely in and lie over the wing a when said wing isturned down, as shown at the left of Fig. l, the parts being coupled.

rIhe ordinary link now in use may be used; but in Fig. 4 I showalinkthat Iprefer to use. At one end I provide a pin-hole, oz., and at theother an oblong opening, 1..

In making a coupling the parts are operated as follows: rlhe brakeman oroperator first places the link L into the inouth of the drawhead,passing a pin, I?, through the hole n of the link, which holds the linkin a projected position. He then raises the pin of the oppositedraw-head, and turning the shaft B, by means of the crank c, until thelug Z of said shaft strikes a stop, d, upon the draw-head, when a wing,a,will stand in a vertical posi- 3o tion below the pin P, as shown atthe left of Fig-2, the pin being` dropped onto said'wing, and as thedraw-heads approach the link enters the opposite draw-head, and,striking against the wing a, it is caused to careen over or swing down,and as it falls the pin'P rides 55 over its upper face until the wingreaches its horizontal position,when the opening e of the wing willregister with the pin-opening t of the draw-head,when the pin will dropthrough, coupling the parts; and to uneouple the parts the operatorsimply draws ont the couplingnu. l Having thus fully set forth myinvention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

l. In a ear-coupler, the combination of the draw-heads, each having alink-compartment with raised portion f, the crank-shaft having the winga, with opening e, to register with the pin-hole of the draw-head, saidwing be- 5o ing housed within the draw-heads, the lug mounted on thecrank-shafts, and stops d on the draw-head,with links and pins, as andfor the purposes specified.

2. In a car-coupler, the combination of the draw-heads having alink-compartment with raised portion f, the transverse crank-shaft,having the wing a, with opening e, said wing being housed within thelink-compartlnent, the mechanism forliiniting themovementofthe 6orockshaft, and the coupling-pin, the link having the hole ozy at one endand an oblong opening, r, at the other, substantially as and for thepurposes set forth.

CHARLES THAYER. Witnesses:

J. B. Davis, J. J. Roisrson.

